Leadville Boom Days 2027: Dates, Burro Race & Parade Guide

Leadville Boom Days is the small mountain town's biggest weekend of the year: a mining-heritage festival built around a pack burro race, old-time mining skill contests, and a parade down Harrison Avenue. It runs every summer on the first full Friday-through-Sunday weekend of August. The 2026 edition, the 77th annual, ran August 7 to 9; as of this writing, organizers have not posted official 2027 dates. Check leadvilleboomdays.org for the official announcement, or see the Leadville Herald's 2026 Boom Days coverage for how the event has run in recent years.

Quick answer

• What it is: A three-day mining-heritage festival in downtown Leadville with a pack burro race, mining skill competitions, a parade, motorcycle games, a car show, and a street fair.
• When: Traditionally the first full Friday-to-Sunday weekend in August. 2025 ran August 1-3; 2026 ran August 7-9 (the 77th annual). 2027 dates were not yet announced as of October 2026; following the pattern, expect early August, but confirm at leadvilleboomdays.org.
• Parade: Saturday, 10 a.m., down Harrison Avenue.
• Mining competitions: Behind the Elks Lodge on West 4th Street, Saturday from 9 a.m. and continuing Sunday morning, with kids' events late Sunday morning.
• Burro race: Sunday, 10 a.m., starting and finishing on Harrison Avenue. The 2026 long course was 18.5 miles toward Mosquito Pass; organizers put the old 15-mile short course on hold for 2026 and offered a new 6.5-mile route instead.
• Know before you go: Boom Days is a dog-free event in the downtown festival area, and drones are not allowed anywhere at the event.
• Where to stay: It's Leadville's biggest weekend of the year, so book early; Twin Lakes, about 20 to 30 minutes away, is a quieter group-house alternative.

What is Leadville Boom Days?

Boom Days celebrates Leadville's 1880s silver-mining boom with three days of events centered on historic Harrison Avenue. The signature events are the pack burro race, mining skill competitions (jackleg drilling, hand drilling, hand mucking, and spike driving), a parade, motorcycle games, a car show, costume and pie-eating contests, and a street fair with more than 100 food and craft vendors. Pack burro racing itself traces back to 1949, when Leadville and Fairplay organized the earliest official race, according to Wikipedia's history of the sport. The nonprofit Leadville Boom Days Committee, which runs today's festival, has operated for more than 76 years, and the 2026 festival was the 77th annual Boom Days. Boom Days is downtown Leadville's biggest weekend, but it is only one of many things to do around Twin Lakes and Leadville if your group is staying in the area for more than the festival itself.

When is Boom Days 2027?

Boom Days has run on the first full Friday-to-Sunday weekend of August for years: August 1-3 in 2025, and August 7-9 for the 77th annual in 2026. As of October 2026, leadvilleboomdays.org has not posted 2027 dates. Following the same pattern, the 2027 festival would fall in the first or second week of August, but that is a pattern-based estimate, not a confirmed date. Check Visit Leadville Twin Lakes' Boom Days listing or leadvilleboomdays.org for the confirmed 2027 dates once the committee announces them.

The pack burro race

The Leadville Boom Days pack burro race is one of the oldest events of its kind in Colorado, rooted in a mining-era tradition of prospectors leading loaded burros over mountain passes. Each team is a runner paired with a burro; the runner cannot ride the animal and must stay connected to it for the whole course. For 2026, packet pickup was 8 a.m. in front of Community Banks of Colorado at 4th and Harrison, and both the long and short courses started at 10 a.m. in front of the Lake County Courthouse on Harrison Avenue, per the race's official rules page. The 2026 long course covered 18.5 miles and more than 4,000 feet of climbing through the historic East Side mining district toward Mosquito Pass, with teams required to go around the Mosquito Pass sign before heading back to town; a regulation pack saddle with a pick, shovel, and gold pan is required gear on this course. Organizers put the old 15-mile short course on hold for 2026 and offered a new, roughly 6.5-mile route through the lower mining district instead, where the pack gear is encouraged but not required. Course distances have changed before and could change again, so treat these as the 2026 figures and check the official race page for the current year. The race itself runs on open public roads that stay open to traffic, so runners and burros share the route with vehicles outside the immediate start and finish area. Early August at this elevation can still turn cool and showery by afternoon, so check the month-by-month Leadville and Twin Lakes weather guide and pack layers before you go.

Where to watch the burro race

The official race page asks spectators to stay behind the white lines at the start and finish on Harrison Avenue, since the start can get chaotic and the animals may act unpredictably around crowds. Finishers come back into town heading south on Harrison Avenue from 7th Street toward the courthouse, the opposite direction from the start. In 2026 the short-course racers were expected back around 11 to 11:30 a.m. and long-course racers in the early-to-mid afternoon; organizers also ask drivers to avoid 5th Street between 10 and 11 a.m. while racers are on course. To watch from the mountain, the official guidance is to drive up 7th Street, also County Road 3, toward the Resurrection Mine area for the long course, or up South Toledo Street and left on Adelaide Park Road for the short course. Boom Days is a dog-free event in the downtown festival area with no exceptions for leashed dogs, and unmanned aircraft are not allowed anywhere at the event, so leave both at the house.

Mining competitions

Old-time mining skill competitions run behind the Elks Lodge on West 4th Street, in the 100 block, where spectators are welcome to watch from the bleachers. In 2026 the adult events began at 9 a.m. Saturday and continued at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, with events including single and team jackleg drilling, hand drilling, hand mucking, and spike driving, and cash prizes for winners. Kids' mining events followed on Sunday, starting around 11 a.m. after the adult team jackleg drilling heat. The event's mining page notes these competitions trace back to 1885, well before Boom Days itself began.

The parade and opening weekend

Boom Days opens Friday evening with a 5 p.m. opening ceremony on Harrison Avenue, followed by motorcycle games at 5:30 p.m. and a Friday-night dance at the Elks Lodge; the 2026 edition also added a film night at the Tabor Opera House tied to that year's theme. The parade itself steps off Saturday at 10 a.m. on Harrison Avenue, Leadville's main downtown street, with trucks, floats, and banners from local businesses, nonprofits, and first responders; the official parade page notes it usually lasts at least an hour, so bring a hat, water, and a chair. The Boom Days Auto Show follows on Harrison Avenue in the early afternoon. A stretch of Harrison Avenue and nearby side streets closes to traffic for the festival weekend; in 2025, for example, Harrison Avenue between 3rd and 8th Streets closed from 6 a.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Sunday, with truck traffic rerouted onto Mountain View Drive and Mount Massive Drive, according to the Leadville Herald. Expect similar closures in future years and plan parking accordingly. The street fair, with more than 100 food and craft vendors, runs on Harrison Avenue and adjacent side streets through the weekend as well.

Lodging tip for Boom Days weekend

Leadville is a small town, and the Leadville Boom Days Committee calls it the town's biggest weekend of the year. Downtown hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts can book up well ahead of the festival. A group coming for the parade, the mining competitions, and the burro race is often better served by renting a house nearby than splitting across multiple small rooms in town; see our broader notes on where to stay around Twin Lakes for other options in the area. The Big Mack sits near Twin Lakes, roughly 20 to 30 minutes from downtown Leadville, with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms sleeping up to 12 across three king rooms and a downstairs bunk room with four doubles and two twins. After a day in the sun at altitude watching the parade and the burro race, the hot tub and full kitchen make it easy for a family or friend group to regroup, cook a meal together, and head back into town the next morning for more of the festival. Check your dates and book direct.